Dilli in December is sajji-dhajji Dilli…shaadi-vaadi season you know. Being a Dilli wali I had no choice as I attended Mandy’s (Mandeep Kaur) wedding with Suks (Sukhvinder Singh). With choley bhaturey competing with risottos and pashminas with tube tops, I sat back to enjoy the multiple hues of sada Punjabi vyah-shyah.
As I savoured my desi paneer sushi roll, I debated which poetic version of beauty was more appealing. Was it heritage and the promise of tradition or the modern with a glimpse into the future which struck the right chords?
This perplexity of thought is not mine alone as we view the age-old rivalry between Coca Cola and Pepsi. Coke talks of the real taste of America, bharosa and boond boond mein viswas. The paradox being: for a synthetic black cola the image is puritan white. And in the same category we have the choice of the next generation, the upstart and brash, the 18-till-I-die youngistani- Pepsi.
While Pears spoke of the age-old loving promise of masoom Pears, Fiama di Wills has a modern diva promising a “beautiful you, today and tomorrow”.
If you thought this is limited to only some categories, you are mistaken. Even in commodities, while one cement has a veteran actor promising that Binani Cement is sadiyon ke liye, Ultra Tech cement is about the engineer’s choice, where there is determination and promise, Ek behtar Bharat banega.
When it comes to banking, if one public sector bank talks about being the banker for every Indian, from JRD Tata to Rabindra Nath Tagore to Dr Rajendra Prasad; Canara Bank talks about its new avatar, innovation and kuch nayi technology…hum badle aap ke liye.
As the pundit began chanting the wedding shlokas, I realised that what were expounded as rules of holy matrimony could also explain the coexistence of opposites, essential for the propagation and preservation of the market place.
The two golden mantras which I borrow from shubh lagan are:
Yin and Yang — contrary brands: Like Yin and Yang, stree and purush, the existence of contrary forces is a natural phenomenon, whether it is Kane and Abel, Seeta aur Geeta or Coke and Pepsi. Thus if one brand takes on the garb of morality and tradition, the other for its existence needs to develop a persona that is the antithesis. If Kodak is the big old yellow giant, Fuji has to be a contrasting progressive green. When Mercedes promises classic heritage; an upstart Audi is audacious enough to talk about progressive passion and “I move with the times” philosophy.
Even with Bollywood celebrities: if one leading star dons the cloak of an always correct and gentlemanly Shahenshah, the challenging star has to be a Baazigar and a beharupiya to become a badshah.
Mangalam bhunatu — brands in synergy: The second rule of blissful matrimony is to attain synergy of thought and action. Similarly, sometimes the decision of kal (yesterday) or aaj (today) is not for competition but to maintain the synergy bet-ween the ess-ence of the benefit offered and the personality of the brand.
Take for example the existence and heritage of designs since 1864 which is the is the promise of Tribhuvan Das Jewellers, thus the emphasis on parampara and nazakat is but obvious; similarly if the light-weight, fusion of West and East gold jewellery is on offer from Tanishq it has to be a modern Mia so that “you love to go to work”. Amul offers you heritage as the “Taste of India” and Nutrilite is “technologically enriched with no transfats”.
Thus going back to the original question of what is beauty: At the end of the day whether it is the Chuadhwin ka chand or the fantasy of Ladki badi bombat, beauty lies in the eyes of the consumer beholder and conjugal bliss can only be attained if there is synergy between the tradition of caring like Johnson & Johnson and the futuristic promise of Apple…

The writer is professor, marketing, IMI, Delhi